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Ordinary Seaman
, Other ISBN's 0744521041, 074452105X, 0744521076
112 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
1 person want to read
About the author
John Gordon
38 books28 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
John Gordon was an English writer of adolescent supernatural fiction. He was the author of fifteen fantasy novels (including The Giant Under The Snow), four short story collections, over fifty short stories, and a teenage memoir. For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gor...
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
John Gordon was an English writer of adolescent supernatural fiction. He was the author of fifteen fantasy novels (including The Giant Under The Snow), four short story collections, over fifty short stories, and a teenage memoir. For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gor...
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 9, 2017
This volume is a very short entry in the Walker Books “Teenage Memoirs” series. It chronicles author John Gordon’s move with his family, at twelve years old (two years before the outbreak of WWII), from the North of England to “the flat Fens of East Anglia.” From the Fens, his life is touched often by a relationship to water, culminating in some years in the British Navy, late in the war.
Gordon’s memoire is episodic and engaging, well worth reading. The trace origins of some of his novels (not the least of which being The House on the Brink) are unmistakable. There are rather “earthy,” though brief, bits to the book. Because of this, I would recommend it to older teens only.
While Gordon explains that he settled on a Chestertonian view of God, he writes of a strong pull toward atheism over the difficulty of reconciling a benevolent God with temporal suffering. Late in the book, he makes a somewhat cloudy record of a shore-leave visit to a Lebanese brothel where the girls were “penned like animals.” One comes away with the idea that he couldn’t make himself do what he’d come for. However, the narrative is murky enough that it’s easy to suspect we’re also being misdirected. At any rate, I will mention one of my take-aways about the book; a notion was reinforced which I’ve picked up from the writings of other authors who have toyed with atheism. This is: often atheist authors are adamant in their claims to free will and their ability to pass judgement on a God who allows suffering, yet in their own life stories these same people are very open about the suffering they themselves have perpetuated. Hence they seem to say they would only believe in a god who allowed them free will, but who would also remove any negative effects of their baser actions.
Gordon’s memoire is episodic and engaging, well worth reading. The trace origins of some of his novels (not the least of which being The House on the Brink) are unmistakable. There are rather “earthy,” though brief, bits to the book. Because of this, I would recommend it to older teens only.
While Gordon explains that he settled on a Chestertonian view of God, he writes of a strong pull toward atheism over the difficulty of reconciling a benevolent God with temporal suffering. Late in the book, he makes a somewhat cloudy record of a shore-leave visit to a Lebanese brothel where the girls were “penned like animals.” One comes away with the idea that he couldn’t make himself do what he’d come for. However, the narrative is murky enough that it’s easy to suspect we’re also being misdirected. At any rate, I will mention one of my take-aways about the book; a notion was reinforced which I’ve picked up from the writings of other authors who have toyed with atheism. This is: often atheist authors are adamant in their claims to free will and their ability to pass judgement on a God who allows suffering, yet in their own life stories these same people are very open about the suffering they themselves have perpetuated. Hence they seem to say they would only believe in a god who allowed them free will, but who would also remove any negative effects of their baser actions.
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